Belonging
by lil'mousie323
Summary: This is my account of what I think happened behind the scenes in "Invasive Species". All McCords are included though only a few are tagged. "I tell myself that God gave my children many gifts - spirit, beauty, intelligence, the capacity to make friends and to inspire respect. There was only one gift he held back - length of life." Rose Kennedy
1. Chapter 1

Standing there looking out the kitchen window at her husband and his siblings, she couldn't help but feel a sadness wash over her. She was beyond happy that Henry and his brother and sister seemed to be bonding, letting the hurts of the past go, but she felt a longing to have this type of interaction with her own brother.

The last time Will was in town they ended up fighting and he left on those terms. He just didn't get why she needed to protect him, he was all she had left of their family and wanted nothing to happen to him. She had always had this fear that something terrible was going to happen to him on one of his missions, and she just couldn't let that happen. They were so young when their parents died, so they always made sure they were there for each other. Lately it's been tough, and watching Henry with his siblings made her miss Will so much more than she realized.

"Hey mom, do you need a hand in here?" Stevie asked her mother softly, noticing her watching out the window with a look of deep sadness on her face, and quite possibly a trace of tears on her cheeks.

"Oh hey baby, sure I could use the company, thank you." she said with a hint of a break in her voice. "Could you help me make sure there is still enough food and drink out? All these people in and out, I can't seem to keep track of everything."

"Sure, here let me take that from you." Stevie said, taking the coffee pot from her mother. "Mom, are you okay? I mean, I know this is hard on everyone, but are you really okay, you seem all out of sorts." Stevie questioned herself internally if this was the right time to bring this up, but since they were alone in the kitchen for a minute she thought it was a good time.

Elizabeth paused at her daughters question, thinking carefully about how she was going to answer this, Stevie was a bright girl and lately seemed to be so intune to her mothers emotions. Leaning against the sink with her head tilted down, she sniffled back a few tears that were trying to escape. "Yeah baby, I'm okay, just a bit tired thats all. This is all so emotionally draining." Stepping beside Stevie she took her oldest into her arms and hugged her tightly, reassuring her that she was fine.

Stevie knew better than to believe her mother, but she decided to let it go, for now. She saw how Aunt Maureen talked to her, and about her, and knew that her mothers kind heart was hurting. She decided that if she had gotten sometime alone with her, she would ask her about it. Knowing that her grandparents had died when her mother was young, she couldn't help but wonder if thats partly the reason she let her Aunt talk to her that way. "Okay mom, hey why don't you go find dad, see if he needs anything" Stevie pushed at her mother, knowing full well that her dad was outside with his siblings.

"Well he is outside with Aunt Maureen, Aunt Erin and Uncle Shane, and they seem to be having a good time reminiscing so I don't want to bother them. Besides there's so much to do in here with clean up and everything." Not wanting to invade the sibling bonding time they were having, she was busying herself with the dishes and cleaning up what she could.

What Elizabeth didn't realize is that Maureen had caught her looking out at them from the kitchen window. Maureen had known how terrible she always treated Elizabeth, and she wasn't sure why she had treated her so badly, its not like Elizabeth truly flaunted her wealth in front of them, she worked for a living and lived moderately modest, she also knew that the money Elizabeth did have was because its what her parents had left her. She didn't know the full story, but she knew that they died when she was young, leaving just her and Will alone, parentless. Listening to Henrys speech during the funeral she had it in her mind to try and be nicer to Elizabeth, after all she had only tried to help the whole time they were there preparing for the funeral, the biggest shock was when she had put the coffin and other necessary items on her credit card, she was jealous of this, but also grateful. Maureen had always been like Patrick, so proud and never wanted to admit defeat, which is part of the reason she had a strained relationship with Henry. Wanting to try and possibly make things better, for Henrys sake, she had left her siblings and walked into the house, hoping to find Elizabeth in the kitchen alone.

"Hey Stevie, do you know where your mom is?" Maureen asked her niece.

"She was right here, maybe she went upstairs for a minute, she was looking a bit tired."

"Okay, thanks sweetie." Guessing she had probably lost her chance to talk with her sister in-law, she went off to mingle with some of those stopping by to pay respects to her father.

Stevie couldn't help but wonder what that was about. Why would Aunt Maureen want mom now, she's been doing to much trying to keep things off her dad and siblings shoulders so they could mourn without worrying about cleaning up around the house. She was hoping it certainly wasn't to chew her out or push her around for the way things were being done today. She never understood why her aunt hated her mother so much, she was always very polite to her and tried to make things better when they were sour. The way she was talking to her these past few days really bothered Stevie, the way she snipped at her mother when talking about riding in the SUV to the funeral home, the way she called her "Queen Elizabeth" in a very derogatory way, the way she had acted when her mother stepped up to pay for the coffin and everything on her credit card to help the family out. She wanted to talk to her mother about it, but wasn't sure when the time would be right to talk.

Elizabeth excused herself from the kitchen and the mourners, she headed upstairs to the bedroom for a bit of privacy. The past few days were really taking a toll on her, she had caught herself a few times starting to have a panic attack, but was able to calm herself down quickly, before things got out of control. She was feeling rather panicked at the moment and decided the best place to fall apart would be the bedroom, Henrys childhood bedroom. What she really wanted was to be back in her own home, away from Maureen and her biting comments and nicknames, in her own surroundings where she could safely fall apart. She had never asked for the wealth she had, but the fact was, it was all her parents had left her. They had worked so hard so their children could have everything in life they wanted. When their lives had been cut short so suddenly Elizabeth and Will each inherited an exuberant amount of money, of which they received in yearly installments out of their trust funds. Elizabeth had decided to invest a lot of her money, which is one of the reasons she and Henry were well taken care of. Its not her fault, and she really wished Maureen understood that. She would rather have her parents than be well set with money for the rest of her life. This week was very hard on her, watching Henry and his siblings laughing and remembering all the good and fun times they had with their dad. She longed for this, and she missed Will so much, she'd give anything to fight with him right about now, because even though they may be fighting it meant he was atlas there for her to fight with. There had been a quiet knock on the door, not knowing who it was, she tried to stay as silent as she could for all she really wanted to do was just be alone right now. When she didn't answer she noticed the door opening just a crack. Henry had been looking for her, and when Stevie told him she was upstairs he got concerned.

"Hey baby, are you alright? Stevie said she was a little concerned for you." He asked, knowing she was more than likely thinking about Will and her own parents. He crossed the room to sit on the bed with her, taking her in his arms squeezing her tightly, kissing her gently on the forehead.

Letting out a big sigh she leaned into his embrace and resting her head against his shoulder, "Yeah, I guess, I just got overwhelmed watching you guys outside laughing and reminiscing over the fun times you had with your dad. I am so glad you guys are talking and enjoying each others company again, I was a little worried that your dads death would split you guys completely. I know Shane and Erin were trying to remain neutral not taking sides, but I was worried you and Maureen would be destroyed forever with the words she had said." Lifting her head off of Henrys shoulder and looking him in the eyes, "Are you okay baby? I mean really okay?" she asked looking deeper into his eyes, searching for the true answer. She was always good at reading him through his eyes and could usually tell when he wasn't telling her the truth.

"Elizabeth McCord, do you know how much I love you?! Yes I'm okay, Maureen and I seem to be better now, I'm thinking that what I said at the funeral really sunk in. She apologized for blaming me for dads death, and hopes that we can continue to repair our relationship." He said, looking deep into her clouded crystal blue eyes. "I want to thank you for everything you've been doing since we've been here. I know its not easy dealing with the "stubborn McCord" family, but you're doing an amazing job. I also know that you're feeling sad, not only from my dads death, but the old wounds from your own parents death and your life without them, the fact that you and Will never really had the chance to reminisce about growing up with your parents. I saw you watching us from the window." He let her know, and his words made her cry, a cry she'd been holding in for quite awhile.

Henry wiped the tears from her cheeks, and also joined her in crying. They both needed a good comforting cry together, they hadn't really had a chance to just sit and cry in each others arms since they had arrived in Pittsburgh, and the dams had finally broke. They sat there for awhile holding each other, leaning on each other crying and being comforted with the touch of their hands, the warmth of their embrace. They hadn't realized how long they were like this until they heard a knock at the door.

"Hey, are you guys okay?" they had heard Allisons voice through the door, "Everyone is downstairs wondering where you had gotten to. All of the guests are starting to leave and want to say their good-byes."

"Yeah Noodle, we will be down in a minute" Henry answered his middle child, clearing his throat as he spoke. "You okay babe? If you want to stay up here you can, I don't mind." He said as he kissed Elizabeth softly on the lips.

"No, I'm okay, I'll come along down with you. I wouldn't want anyone thinking I was a cold hearted person, not wanting to say good-byes." She reassured him with a kiss in return. "I love you so much Henry McCord." giving him another, stronger kiss as they stood up and went downstairs.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you all for the kind reviews and follows! I do believe this story is finished. I hope this second chapter does justice to the first. Thank you for reading!**

After all the good-byes had been said to those paying their respects to Patrick, everyone just stood around looking at each other. The kids decided to retreat back into the den to watch TV and play board games. They had been enjoying each others company, as they really didn't get to see each other all that often. One thing with cousins is, no matter how much time passes between seeing each other, they always seem to pick up right where they left off.

While the kids played games and chatted in the other room, the adults talked for a little while in the kitchen. Elizabeth had started to clean up the rest of the dishes and left over food that had been sitting around. She had tried to be part of the conversation, but knew that the siblings needed the continued talking and bonding more than she did. Walking into the dining room she gathered a pile of plates that had been collected, taking them over to the sink, not really looking at anyone but focusing on the task at hand. She had told Henry that he had needed to let his siblings lean on him a little, and now she felt it was indeed her duty to take over the clean-up responsibilities.

"Elizabeth, you're making me nervous, would you please come join us?" Erin asked trying to coax her sister in law to relax a little. She knew how horrible Maureen always had been to her and figured this was her way of staying out of the line of fire, but Erin truly did love Elizabeth, no matter what Maureen had said about her.

Elizabeth gave Erin a shy, meek, sad smile, "It's okay, you guys continue what you're doing, I'll continue to clean up around here, it's less you guys have to worry about, I'm happy to do my share." she had been bracing herself for some smart ass comment from Maureen about her, but it didn't come, which had totally surprised her.

"Well if you're not going to join us, then please let me help you clean up. You really don't need to be doing all of this alone." Erin replied as she stood beside her, reaching an arm out giving Elizabeth a pat on the shoulder, as if to thank her for doing everything she'd been doing while everyone else had dealt with the funeral and visitors.

Elizabeth wasn't sure how to respond, she felt tears start to form in her eyes, a heaviness in her chest. Blinking rapidly and choking back tears clearing her throat, she thanked Erin for the help. Erin truly was her favorite sister in law, yeah there were times she had followed Maureens lead with nasty words, but never took it to the extremes she did, and often it was poking fun of her and all the money she had inherited, mostly it was in the beginning of her and Henrys relationship. Erin knew how she had come into her money and she tried to make Maureen understand, but it was to no avail. She had been lost in her thoughts at the sink and felt familiar arms wrap around her from behind, causing her to smile.

"Babe, please, come sit down with us. I know you're uncomfortable, but we are leaving soon, so please for me come sit and talk." Henry said to her, almost in a whisper.

"These are the last of the dishes, let me just put them away and I'll be in." she replied back to him, looking in his eyes she knew he was unsure if she was being truthful, knowing how much she wanted to just get home, back to their own world. "Babe, I promise, I'll be in in a minute."

"Okay, I'll be keeping an eye on the time." he said back to her with a small peck on the cheek.

Elizabeth joined the others sitting beside Henry on the couch, quietly listening to the banter of the McCord siblings as they continued to reminisce their younger years with both parents. Her hand had been resting on Henrys leg, occasionally squeezing as she felt panicked. Noticing this Henry took her hand in his, comforting her by rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb.

"Mom, Dad, I know you said we were going to leave after the funeral, we were just wondering what time we were actually leaving?" Stevie said, interrupting the adult conversation.

"Yeah, we should get going, it's a good four hour drive back to DC, so if we leave by 5 we should get home around 9, barring any traffic issues." Henry replied. To be honest he was ready to head back home, yes he would miss his brother and sisters, but the way the past few days emotionally drained him, he was ready to be home. "Stevie go tell your brother and sister to go get their things packed and bring them downstairs to get loaded in the SUV."

"Okay dad" she replied, turning around to head back to relay the message to Ali and Jas.

Elizabeth excused herself to head upstairs to pack her and Henrys clothes, which would allow him to sit with everyone for a little longer. She had been finishing putting the last few pieces of clothing in the suitcase when Stevie came into the bedroom. She had expressed concern about how Maureen had been treating her, and why her mother allowed it. They had a nice little heart to heart talk about the reason why, and Stevie seemed to understand completely.

Everyone had said their goodbyes, gave hugs and kisses then the McCord clan piled into the Suburban. As their caravan pulled away from the curb they all waved goodbye to the family left standing on the steps outside the McCord family home.

"Here, I called Uncle Will!" Stevie had announced as she passed her cell up to Elizabeth and Henry. Knowing her mother needed to see that her brother was safe she felt a chat on FaceTime was needed.

Elizabeth turned around to Stevie, giving her a knowing, thank you smile, as Henry talked to Will. She had said hi to him, but was so choked up she really couldn't talk much. She was very impressed with how "adult" Stevie had been the past few days, normally she wouldn't jump to her mothers defense like she had, and it made Elizabeth extremely proud to see she was finally becoming the caring young woman she had always dreamed she would become.

Henry had passed the phone back to Stevie, he was happy to see his brother in law, and even though he couldn't be here was grateful for this call, Henry really did love Will like his own brother. He reached out for Elizabeths hand, noticing how quiet she had gotten when talking with Will. He knew she was painfully reliving the past, but tried to put that aside so she could be there for Henry to lean on. Taking her hand in his, their fingers danced together saying "I'm here for you always, I love you always", there was also their unspoken communication with their eyes, the whole "I love you, you're my rock, I need you now more than ever." Since they were all stuck in the car for four hours they couldn't really talk about things with the kids sitting right behind them. Half way through the drive the kids had plugged into their music and Henry decided it was okay to try and talk some.

"Thank you so much for everything the past few days babe, I really couldn't have done it without you here to support me. I know its been tough on you as well, but it means the world to me how strong you've been. Thank you" he said as he leaned over to gently kiss her lips, something he'd been missing lately.

"You're welcome babe, I know it wasn't easy for you either, but you did an impressive job with handling Maureen and the whole entire situation." She said leaning over returning his kiss, something she had also missed so much lately. "We are in this crazy life together Henry, when it hurts you it also hurts me, when you're sad I am too, when you're happy so am I. Our vows are more than just words on paper or in scripture, they are US and always will be us, thats what makes our marriage so wonderful, I love you Henry, until the day I breath my last breath, and after if God allows." Elizabeth kissed him again then leaned back against the seat, her head resting on the head rest, her hands entwined with Henrys. They both needed to have the comforting touch of each other, but anything more than hand holding had to wait until they were in the privacy of their own bedroom.

As the SUVs pulled up in front of their house, Henry and Elizabeth turned around to wake up the kids, who had fallen asleep on the drive home. Once inside they all had retreated to their own bedrooms after saying good night and "I love yous", exhausted from the past few days events.

Once inside their own bedroom Henry threw his bags down, taking his wife in his strong arms. He couldn't wait to let her know just how much he needed and appreciated her, peppering kisses all over her lips and neck. "Baby, I need you to know just how grateful I am for you, and I don't want to tell you, I want to show you, now." he breathed out while still kissing her.

Elizabeth melted into his kisses and his embrace, she loved this man so much, it hurt her to see him so hurt. "Henry, I need to feel you too, please show me, I need you to show me." she whispered back with baited breath.

They had made love so passionately and desperate that night, showing each other just how much they truly meant to one and the other, their bodies moving as one, so in tune to the beating of their two hearts that nothing else mattered at the moment. The way their bodies moved as one proved just how much in love they were, how much they cherished each other, just how much they appreciated the love and support they provided. They laid in bed, their limbs entangled together, her head resting on his chest while tracing shapes on his chest. When their were no more words left to express how they felt, it was always their actions and touches that spoke more than what any words could express.

"I love you Henry, thank you. I know we are not promised another day, but every day that I am blessed to have you here is a day cherished. I cannot imagine my life with out you." she spoke sleepily to him as the beating of his heart was quickly luring her to sleep.

"I am grateful every day to have you by my side Elizabeth, you are my rock and my strength, and I don't think I would have been able to make it through these past few days without you. I love you so much baby, not even words can express how much, but please know that I also, cannot imagine my life without you by my side. You are truly my partner in life, my best friend forever." he whispered into her hair, his cheek resting on the top of her head, it was only then he felt the tears falling onto his chest. He knew this week had been hard for her, anytime she loses someone close it opens the wounds of losing her parents at an early age. He pulled her into a tighter hug against him, a silent promise to never leave her, never let her go.


End file.
